


Yoga Night

by Dumbassv2



Series: Epithet Erased One-Shots [1]
Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Parents, Angst, Angst with an okay ending, Heavy Angst, Not Beta Read, One Shot, Short One Shot, Violence, had this scenario stuck in my head for a while because of angst and such, im not gonna tag it as comfort specifically im unsure, it's barely canonical i'm just a sucker for angst sorry about that, kind of beta read??? unsure, sort of comfort????????, well like - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24205567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dumbassv2/pseuds/Dumbassv2
Summary: Giovanni's mom comes back home after Yoga Night.
Relationships: Fred "Car Crash" Donaldson & Giovanni Potage
Series: Epithet Erased One-Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747144
Comments: 12
Kudos: 46





	Yoga Night

**Author's Note:**

> REMEMBER: always check the tags for trigger warnings!
> 
> also quick note this was posted before I found out Gio had 2 moms ;; sorry about that

"So- we're really going to _rob a museum???"_ Giovanni could practically hear Fred's enthusiasm through his voice alone, even though they're face-timing either way. "Hell yeah we are!!-" Giovanni half-yells,"-We're gonna rob the HECK out of that museum!! It won't know what hit it! Well, it will -because we're going to be announcing our entrance in the coolest way possible- but still! Our street cred is going to SKYROCKET!" The two ~~giggle~~ chuckle _menacingly_ , they're going to be Bonzai-Famous! _(even if that's technically not a rank...)_

The apartment's door to the hallway opens, Mom must be home. That's off... she usually doesn't come back home until the next morning. Well, she's usually home most of the day but yesterday was 'Yoga Night'. I mean, it's barely even a _Yoga_ Night at all! All they do is drink wine and-- augh. Let's not talk about it anymore, right now it's time to talk to Car Crash.

"Oh man, Boss, you're a genius! I cannot _wait_ to get!! Whatever we're stealing!!" Fred gasps, "What if we steal a sword that we can hit girls with?!?!" Fred waits in anticipation of Giovanni's response. Giovanni pauses, then says, "CAR CRASH YOU ABSOLUTE _GENIUS_ \- I am SO proud of you right now!" Fred speaks, but it's drowned out by Giovanni's mother,

"GIOVANNI! KEEP IT DOWN, I HAVE A HEADACHE!"

Her voice is so _annoying_ , practically a screech, even. Giovanni puts his hand to the phone microphone, "MOOOM!! I'M TALKING TO A FRIEND!" He keeps his hand on the phone, waiting for his Mom's response. "ABOUT WHAT?"

"CRIME STUFF!!" She pauses, Fred, on the other side, can hear everything going on since their voices are... extremely loud. "TALK ABOUT CRIME STUFF _LATER_ , I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Giovanni scoffs, "YEAH, SURE, BUT YOU HAD TIME TO GO ON A _'YOGA NIGHT'_ , HUH??" Giovanni's mom pauses. "DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE, YOUNG MAN!"

"LIKE YOU EVEN _CAN!_ I'M SURPRISED YOU EVEN MADE YOUR WAY HOME TONIGHT!" He's actually kind of proud of that response. Sounds... cool!! And Smart! Snappy, even!

"OH YEAH?? JUST WATCH ME!"

Ah. Her footsteps are so _loud-_ I guess she's really sticking to her word. If she's really coming in here, can she at least be quieter? Her footsteps are giving Giovanni a headache. They're just getting louder and _louder_ \--

She opens the door to Giovanni's room. She looks a bit.. messy? There are some stains on her shirt and her hair seems ruffled up. "Uh. Are you... okay???" Usually she looks at least a bit better than this. She's breathing kind of loud- and she looks mad. Maybe this was a mistake. "OH, am I OKAY?? AM I OKAY? YOU _BRAT-_ I LET YOU LIVE IN MY HOME RENT-FREE EVEN AFTER YOU TURN 18 AND YOU TREAT ME LIKE--"

Giovanni moves his hand off of the phone microphone "Hey-Car-I-Think-I-Have-To-Go-For-A-Bit-" Giovanni quickly hung up before Fred could respond. "I am _tired_ of you, Giovanni. I am so, _so_ tired of you." Giovanni steps back, "A- Are you sure you're not just tired? Maybe all you need is a Good Old Fashioned Nap!" She glares at Giovanni, "Oh, _really?_ I couldn't tell, that definitely wasn't the reason I told you to SHUT YOUR _GODDAMN_ MOUTH-"

He raises his hands defensively, "Look- I'm sorry! I didn't know it was _this_ bad- Maybe we can just compromise and I'll make you a nice Egusi soup for when you wake up?" His voice cracks a bit, Mom never sounded like this before. She pauses, as if actually considering it. I mean, Giovanni cooks up a hell of a soup sometimes. "Oh, oh no, that won't due. Because of _you,_ _I've_ got to deal with a headache twice as long as I would have earlier- a nice little soup won't fix anything." Giovanni's eyes dart around the room, "O- Oh. Then, uh, what will..?" Ah, yup. He definitely messed up.

She doesn't respond, she just walks towards him, each step louder than the last. His breathing gets more uneven. Please don't do what I think you're about to- you're a good mother! This is just one bad night- come on- _please_ don't do this. Please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't please don't

She raises her arm.

.

.

.

This hurts. It stings. Make it stop- you've dealt with worse than this, Giovanni, calm down. I'm sure she'll apologize and cry or something and then you're both going to be crying and you'regoingtofeelbetterIpromise-

She swings once more, causing Giovanni to fall backwards due to his lanky form. He winces at the pain in his chest, but hey! At least his face is stinging a bit less now. Maybe, if she stops hitting him and comes back to reality, he'll be fine! I'll be fine. She just needs to calm down and... and... Ow. She stomped on his chest. "Pl ea s e st o p ." He mutters, afraid of raising his voice any more than that. "Oh?" She stomps again, which was followed by a whimper, "You want me to stop?" Her words are slurred. It's hard to keep up. I think she's laughing...? Or crying, I can't see it that well. Not much of a reason to cry on her end, though. "I really couldn't imagine why-" She presses down on his arm, "-I mean, you brought this upon yourself, idiot." She presses harder, and harder, his arm hurts so damn much. So does his chest- though the pain in his face is sort of fading away. Thankfully, it seems like she's almost done.

"Th i s h ur t s m o m-" Her laughter(?) cuts him off, "That's the point, _son._ " stomps on his chest again- a bit too close to his neck. He wheezes, he's already past the point of crying. His eyes feel dry but wet at the same time due to the tears. She steps back, and for a second there, you could see a bit of remorse in her eyes. She shakes her head, she's supposed to feel _good_ right now, she's drunk for a reason. "...I think I'm done with you." She walks out of the room, her footsteps slowly quieting down. Giovanni curls up into a ball- it hurts. Everything hurts. Make it stop.

He sniffles and reaches for his phone. Maybe just if he texts Fred for a bit, he can feel better. Even if his body hurts like a bitch, he just needs something to distract himself. Oh- oh, Fred's been texting him. Hopefully he didn't worry Fred for too long.

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **boss

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **boss

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **BOSS

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **ARE YOU OKAY

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **please respond man i'm really worried about you

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **please

Oh. Ah, fuck- poor Fred. What kind of captain worries his minions like that? Well- hurry up and send him a message, _Captain_.

 **boss boy B):** hey im soery mmy mom just needed 2 takl im back nowo

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D:** Holy crap- are you okay?? Boss- can we get on call?

 **boss boy B):** can we stya tetxing insread please

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **Okay, that's fine, but are you okay? You usually have less typos,

 **boss boy B):** ill be fine, i thikn im calmingd own

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **okay, but are you okay right now? I know you'll be fine later.

He pauses- he'll be fine. Everything just hurts right now, but it will dull down eventually, right?

 **boss boy B):** i uh. don't know, but it;ll stop evnentually, rihgt??

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **it... should?? mind telling me what happened, boss?

 **boss boy B):** i don know . everything hurtsf

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **Should I come over? I'm really worried, boss

 **boss boy B):** nononno mom doenst want any more noisse. we coufd meet up ingstead

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **Okay, I can meet you at your building, then we can go wherever, okay?

 **boss boy B):** non no dude i dont want you crashing your car for the fifh time plesae

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **We could walk instead then?

 **boss boy B):** yehea that sounds good, i'll meet you outside crahs

 **boss boy B):** crash*

Giovanni takes a deep breathe. He's doing a bit better now. He already has his jacket on and he's ready to leave his apartment. He heads to the main room, careful not to step on any creaking wood, just in case. His breathing is still a bit uneasy, but at least his vision isn't too blurry now. He puts on some boots after opening up the shoe closet and heads outside. He doesn't need to tell his Mother that he's leaving anyways.. right? I don't want to disturb her again..

He walks down the hallway connected to his Mother's apartment. Even though he's wearing boots, the carpet on the floor here is comforting. Walking by, he hears someone blasting music in one of the rooms. Are the walls really that thin..? That sure is great news, huh? The people in the apartments next to his Mother's probably won't care, right? They shouldn't, Giovanni doesn't talk to others in this building much. I doubt they even remember him. The only memorable feature about him is that his hair is pink, isn't it? He really just is.. kind of useless in this place. He stops and waits for an elevator to come to his floor. I mean, there is an emergency button there but that's only for emergencies, like if someone was trying to murder you or something, right? It's not to be used during a fire because you use the _stairs_ in a fire, not the elevator. Safety is important.

The door opens while one lady is in it, when he enters, she looks at him weirdly. Is something on his face? Is it because of the hair? Well I'm _so_ sorry that ~~I~~ Giovanni has such weird hair, lady. Boohoo, what a sad sight. The button for the first floor is already pressed, so that's good. He doesn't need to move his arms or back that much then! Wonderful. He lets himself focus on the faint elevator music playing. Everything still hurts- but it's easier to ignore it when you're mentally making fun of something. The door opens and both the lady and Giovanni walk out. He checks his phone for any texts from Fred.

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **I'm almost here, are you down yet?

 **boss boy B):** yeah I just got down, where are you at?

From outside, Fred sighs. Boss seems more calm now.

 **CRASH OF CARS >;D: **I'm at the entrance, you should see me at our favourite pole lmao

Giovanni looks through the wall-windows of the building, scanning the area. Oh!

 **boss boy B):** I see you! I'm comin ^v^

Giovanni walks out and waves at Fred, "Hey!! Car Crash-" Fred shushes Giovanni, "Duuude!! Don't use my Bonzai Name when we're out in public! Call me _Fred,_ okay?" Giovanni blows a raspberry, "Okay, _Fred,_ " -He playfully punches Fred's shoulder- "What's up?" Fred pauses, he looks a bit concerned now, actually. "I'm fine dude- but is your face okay?" Giovanni looks confused, "Huh? Is there something on my face?" Fred points at Giovanni's right cheek, "It's a bit redder than usual- and not in the blushy way either." Giovanni puts his hand on the mark, "Oh! Oh, Don't worry! My face is a-okay, just stings a bit. The least of my problems, really!" He chuckles a bit nervously.

Fred motions his hand to come follow him, "That- That doesn't sound good. Uh, come on, let's head to my place! It's much less cold there, you know." Giovanni nods and follows. He really is lucky that his Mother didn't hurt his legs. He puts a hand to his stomach, his chest won't stop hurting. It aches. Make it stop. "Boss? You okay?" He lets go of his chest, "Yeup! I am completely fine." He stretches out the 'fine', "Never better!" Well, actually, he's usually better than this. Though, he doesn't want to worry his minion _(and friend, but those go hand-in-hand, don't they?)_ Fred mutters an "mm'kay" under his breathe, he can talk more about this when they're at his place.

The two make a turn into Fred's neighborhood. How does someone make themself stop hurting without the help of medicine or death? Maybe he should summon an Ancient Potion, though that might concern Fred. Augh, what's he supposed to do? He just wants this to stop. He wants to lay down and rest and wake up perfectly fine! Maybe this is just a bad dream! He pinches himself- nope, you're not asleep. He mutters a little "ow", Fred glances at him, still worried. "Hey, we're here- House 152... 153... 154! Alright, come on," Fred rummages through his hoodie pockets, you can hear some paper crinkling in there. He pulls out a key and unlocks the door, "Right this way, my Lord," He says in an exaggerated tone. Giovanni snorts- "Jeez, thank you then, my uh... dead servant???" The two giggle while Fred closes and locks the door.

"I'll get some snacks, my room's upstairs- first one to the right. Has a 'Do Not Enter Sign', though I think I'll let you slide in." He winks, causing Giovanni to giggle more, "Oh, how Honoured I Am!" He marches upstairs in an upbeat tone, this has been the best part of his day so far- so that's good! Even if it's nighttime right now. ~~It kind of hurts to laugh~~. He heads into Fred's room and sits down on his bed. The blankets are pretty soft- softer than Giovanni's cool-ass racecar bed, even! He fiddles a bit with the blanket while he waits for Fred. It's another nice distraction.

Fred comes back up with a bowl of popcorn and chips in his hands, "Guess what we're eating toniiight?" Giovanni pauses, "Yellow?? Food???" Fred chuckles, "Potato! Chips! And! Popcorn! It's Party Time!! You wanna watch anything?" Giovanni shrugs, "Anything works, but can it be? Not scary?" His voice kind of dies out at the last few words. "Sure, that's no problem Boss! Are you sure you're good though? You're a lot less.. _you_ today, you know?"

Giovanni rubs the back of his neck, "Sorry, I'm just . A bit rattled today? Nothing that important, though, heheh. heh." Please just move on from this topic. He doesn't want to focus on his pain more than he already is. "Boss, come on. I'm worried about you." Giovanni swallows on mostly air and a bit of spit. "'m sorry. I just upset my mom, that's all." His cheek was still a bit red- she didn't hit him _that_ hard, right? "Did she do something..?" Fred takes a handful of the popcorn-chip mixture, "..Yeah. She, uh. Hit me ~~a lot~~ a bit. I'll be fine, though. I'm just a bit dizzy- that's all."

"That's not good man- do you need to sleep? We can watch something after you snooze." Giovanni nods, he's very ready to nap- that's pretty much all he wants to do right now. "Great! You can sleep in bed for now, I'll be downstairs if you need me." Even though Giovanni would usually not comply with sleeping in someone else's bed when it's _this_ late- but he's already dozing off now. He nods again, plopping down onto the sheets and mumbles a thank you.


End file.
